US Navy’s Trident II D5 missile marks 155 successful test flights

The US Navy has conducted successful test flights of two Trident II D5 fleet ballistic missiles, built by Lockheed Martin.It brings the D5 missile’s record to 155 successful test flights since design completion in 1989, a 25-year-plus reliability record unmatched by any other large ballistic missile.

“These latest test flights demonstrate the reliability of the D5 missile and the readiness of the entire Trident Strategic Weapon System every minute of every day,” said Mat Joyce, vice president of Fleet Ballistic Missile programs and deputy for Strategic & Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems. “The Navy program office, the submarine crews and the industry team never rest, to ensure the safety, security and performance of this crucial deterrence system.”

The US Navy launched the unarmed missiles in the Pacific Ocean from a submerged Ohio-class submarine. The missiles were converted into test configurations using kits produced by Lockheed Martin that contain range safety devices and flight telemetry instrumentation.

The Navy conducts a continuing series of operational system evaluation tests of the Trident Strategic Weapon System under the testing guidelines of the joint chiefs of staff. The system is the sea-based element of the nation’s nuclear deterrent triad.

First deployed in 1990, the D5 missile is aboard the US Navy Ohio-class and UK’s Royal Navy Vanguard-class submarines. The three-stage ballistic missile can travel a nominal range of 4,000 nautical miles, and carries multiple independently targeted re-entry bodies.